Thursday, 15 September 2011

José Ramón Ayerra is essentially a TV film director, and "Águila Roja, la Película" [Eng. Title: Red Eagle, the Movie] is obviously a film adaptation of his earlier TV series.

I wonder why he even bothered - there may be a story to tell but the film making is straight out of eighties in terms of style and content. The script and screenplay is not suitable for film, daytime TV perhaps. I hate to be too critical of directors making their film debut, but it has to be said that he was possibly aiming for the lowest denominator to appeal to the widest audience possible. This is not the Spanish cinema I know and love. The only positive about the film is the costumes, but the production design could have been better, as could the performances.

Storyline:
It's a drama built around 17th century politics when Spain presided over possibly the largest empire of the time, with a troublesome neighbour in Portugal, and upstarts England and France vying for position. We have a swashbuckling masked hero thrown in the midst of a conspiracy when Charles V and Louis XIV (allegedly) try to assassinate Spain's Philip IV. The hero saves the day for Spain along with some help from peasants armed with little more than pitchforks.

Compilation:Giselle Calderón and Martina Klein
There's also some brief nudity in the film - the only reason for this post.

Scene Guide:

Charles V visits the king of Spain bearing a gift - a slave girl from Bengal, who appears to be wearing nothing but a few ornaments. The Spanish monarch remarks that she's probably not yet a catholic. The dialogue was obviously written to make the audience laugh, but I doubt if it worked. The woman is played by Giselle Calderón.

Beatriz had sought the help of our masked hero (Red Eagle) to rescue her imprisoned father, but he changes his mind after his son is blinded in an incident. She nevertheless makes her displeasure felt. Beatriz is played by Martina Klein.